A Ranger Christmas
by xXSeas of EmeraldXx
Summary: It's the jolly holiday season in Araluen, and Horace, Will, and Gilan have cooked up a little surprise for Halt...
1. Chapter 1

**A funny Christmas/Holiday one-shot featuring Gilan, Will, Horace, and Halt! **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. All rights go to their respectful owners.**

* * *

The smell of bacon and pancakes wafted through the air. Will stumbled out of his room, his brown hair in its usual curly mess. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. As he slumped down in a nearby armchair, he glanced back to the kitchen, where Halt was preparing breakfast.

"Morning," Halt's gruff voice carried from the kitchen. Will stretched, but then, he stopped. He was forgetting something. Then, it hit him.

"Halt!" Will cried out happily. "It's Christmas, Halt! It's Christmas!" Will bounced up and down excitedly.

"Is it, now?" Halt mused, carrying two plates of bacon and pancakes to the table.

Will sat down at the table and began wolfing down his breakfast. "Can I go to the festival in the village, Halt? Pretty please?" Will mumbled through mouthfuls of food.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "And you think I'm just going to let you miss an entire day of training? he replied dryly.

Will swallowed a mouthful of pancakes. "But Alyss, Horace, Jenny, and George will be there! It's only one day! Please, Halt? I'll work extra hard tomorrow; promise!" he begged, putting on his best puppy-dog eyes.

Halt rolled his eyes and sighed. "Very well. You can go after you finish eating."

Will's smile widened further. "Oh thank you, Halt! I'll be back in a few hours." Will finished up his meal, and ran out the door.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Halt shook his head, but couldn't help a small smile tug at his face. "Apprentices are weird," he murmured to himself.

* * *

Tug's hooves _clip-clopped _across the cobblestone pathway. The citizens of Redmont waved and smiled at the apprentice Ranger. Will was a popular figure among Redmont, and despite his age, he was well-respected for his feats.

Will stood up in his stirrups, and peered over the crowd of bustling people. He saw a distinct head of dirty blonde hair.

"Horace!" Will called out, waving his arms so that the apprentice warrior could see him.

Horace's eyes lit up as he saw his friend, and he pushed his way through the crowd. Behind him, Gilan followed, waving to Will as well.

"Hey, Gil! Hey, Horace!" Will greeted, dismounting off Tug and pulling his two companions into a bear-hug.

Gilan ruffled the young Ranger's hair. "How are you? We haven't seen each other since the Ranger Gathering!" he exclaimed.

Will chuckled. "I'm great, Gil," he replied. Then, in a more serious, business tone, he added. "So, did you get the stuff?"

Last time the three had met, they had planned a prank to pull on Halt, and now was the time to put it into action.

Gilan nodded, and he pulled out a small leather pouch from his pocket. He poured a bit of the contents into the palm of his hand. They were small, pink, sparkly bits. Will looked closer at the sparkles and wrinkled his nose.

"What...what is _that?" _He asked, pinching a bit of the substance and rolling it in between his fingers.

Gilan shrugged. "The seller said this was _glitter. _I'm not sure exactly what it's made of, but it'll do the job," he replied, replacing the glitter back into the pouch.

Horace rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "So, are we going to go to Halt's cabin or what?"

Will nodded. "Halt didn't suspect a thing. He's probably just finished breakfast.'

Gilan, Will, and Horace mounted on their horses and trotted out of the village, and towards the direction of the cabin.

* * *

As subtle as they could be, Horace, Gilan, and Will put their horses in the lean-to stable beside the cabin.

Abelard nickered a greeting. Will quickly placed a hand on Abelard's muzzle to silence him.

"Shh, quiet, boy," he whispered. Abelard tossed his head in response, but remained silent.

As soon as they had their horses in the stable, Gilan produced three pouches of the glitter, and handed two of them to Horace and Will.

Using their Ranger skills, Will and Gilan slipped closer to the cabin, until they were outside the door. Horace followed as unobtrusively as he could, but the two Rangers cringed each time the snow made a loud crunching sound under the warrior's boots. As the trio crouched outside the door, they each reached into their pouches and grabbed a fistful of the pink glitter.

"Ready?" Gilan whispered. Horace and Will nodded. Gilan carefully rested his hand on the doorknob and prepared himself. Before he had the chance to turn the knob, the door yanked open from the other side.

Gilan stumbled back in surprise, his fistful of glitter flying from his grasp. Halt stood in the doorway, looking at the three with mild amusement.

"And why, if I may ask, were you sneaking outside my door?" Halt asked, in an sickly sweet tone.

Will heard Gilan curse as he brushed snow off him. "We were...um, we just wanted to surprise you!" Will explained, making little gestures with his hands.

"With...glitter?" Halt responded. His tone left it clear that he was not convinced.

"I mean…we _were_ going to throw it at you…," Will replied hesitantly.

Halt arched one eyebrow and regarded his apprentice with a mixture of amusement and anger.

"Did you really think you could best me?" Halt's tone was laced with irony. "I'm not deaf, you know. I could hear Abelard greeting your horses, not to mention the loud racket of you three stumbling through the snow."

Will shrugged. "Well…" he stuttered. Suddenly, he pointed to Gilan accusingly. "It was his idea! I swear!"

Gilan glared at the boy. "You're the one that agreed with it!" he countered.

Meanwhile, despite the situation he was in, Horace couldn't help a ghost of a smile touching his face at Will and Gilan's banter.

"Well, _you're _supposed to be the older and mature one! I didn't know any better!" Will defended, although he knew that it wasn't a smart comeback.

Before Gilan could reply, Halt stepped in. "That's enough. Now, just because I'm a generous person-" Gilan rolled his eyes. "And because it's the holiday season, I'll let you all go unscathed," Halt said sternly, giving Will _the look. _

Gilan smiled, and decided to push his luck. "So, Halt...now that that's dealt with, did you get me any presents? I _am, _after all, your _favourite _apprentice, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Halt looked at his at his former apprentice and smirked. "Don't push it, Gilan."

* * *

**Hope you guys liked it! Feedback much appreciated! Tell me what you liked and disliked in the story :)**

**Thanks for watching! Happy Holidays!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Soo…I decided to add one last more chapter :P Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. All rights go to their respectful owners.**

* * *

"Alright, this time, we won't fail," Will said to Horace and Gilan confidently. They stood several hundred meters away from Halt's cabin, this time, with a plan.

"Everyone know what to do?" Gilan asked. Horace and Will nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Will urged Tug into a gallop, thundering toward the cabin with alarming speed. Horace and Gilan stayed where they were, still mounted on their horses. They watched the apprentice's figure slowly grow smaller.

As Will neared the cabin, he hurriedly slid off his horse, and burst through the door, a paniced expression lining his face.

"Halt!" he cried in distress. "There's an emergency!"

Halt was sitting in his armchair, reading a letter. He rose an eyebrow at the outburst. "This better not be another prank, Will," he warned him in a bored, weary tone.

Will shook his head so frantically that Halt was worried it would pop right off. "No, no, Halt! It's really an emergency! Come quick!"

Halt sighed and threw the letter on the table. He picked up his weapons and donned his cloak as he went out the door, following his panicking apprentice. Will half-ran half-walked to the forest a few meters from the cabin. Will kept looking back over his shoulder, making sure his mentor was following, which reminded Halt of an eager puppy.

As they came to the tree line, Will dashed into the plethora of shrubbery without hesitation. Halt followed suit, yelling out a few curses here and there as he got a low-lying branch to the face, or a shrub snagged his cloak.

"Where the devil are we going?" Halt asked to know one in particular.

"Not much farther!" Will called back, although it didn't really answer Halt's question. Despite himself, Will couldn't help a small smile breaking through.

* * *

Gilan and Horace watched the two figures stumble into the forest, and smiled.

"Ready?" Gilan asked Horace.

Horace grinned. "Ready as I'll ever be."

The two rode to Halt's cabin. There was no need to be too quiet, as the slightest sound would never reach Halt's ears through the dense forest.

They dismounted, quickly leaving their horses in the stable. Gilan untied his saddlebag from Blaze's saddle, and followed Horace into the cabin. As expected, the cabin was desolate, save for the small, crackling fire that was slowly dying in the fireplace.

Gilan unbuckled the flap of his saddlebag and dug through it. He pulled out several leather bags filled with the same glitter they had used previously.

"This stuff cost me a fortune, so this prank better work," Gilan said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He handed three of the pouches to Horace and kept the remaining. Working quickly, they opened the pouches and flung glitter everywhere. Pink glitter was spread over furniture, the floor, the kitchen, and they even mixed glitter into the full water basin that was used for washing silverware.

After a few minutes, they stood back and looked over their work with satisfaction.

"Halt's face is going to be priceless!" Gilan exclaimed, his voice went higher in pitch with excitement.

Horace, however, had a worm of doubt gnawing at him. "Are you sure Halt's not going to get too mad?" he asked worriedly.

Gilan let out a short bark of laughter. "He'll be steaming like a cup of freshly brewed coffee," he replied, a little too joyously. "Besides, his reaction's going to be worth it."

Horace's face was still creased with a frown. "Alright...if you say so," he said uncertainly.

Gilan quickly stashed all the empty pouches back into his saddlebag, keeping two of the remaining full ones in his hands. "Quick, let's go hide behind that sofa there," he suggested, pointing to the only sofa in the room, which was pushed up against the wall on the far left side of the room

Horace nodded, and helped Gilan push back the sofa just enough for the both of them to squeeze through. Horace, broad-shouldered as he was, found it quite difficult to fit through the small space in between the wall and the sofa. He squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position.

Gilan gave him a pained look. "Would you just stay still? Will and Halt will be coming through that door any time now," he said quietly.

Horace stopped squirming, but he had a look of obvious intolerableness written all over his face. "It's alright for you. You're so skinny that you could fit under the door crack if you wanted," Horace mumbled peevishly.

After Horace's disgruntled comment, everything went silent. The two sat in anticipation, waiting for the two Rangers to come into the cabin and for Halt to see the beautiful masterpiece Horace and Gilan had created.

* * *

It had been about ten minutes that Halt had followed Will through the forest, and now, they stumbled out of the forest, and into a small meadow, encircled by more trees. The two were doubled over, panting.

"Alright, now, where's this emergency?" Halt asked after he had caught his breath.

Will had a look of apparent confusion on his face. "Hmm...I swear, there was a small camp of bandits here…," he said, a little too innocently for Halt's liking. Then, he shrugged. "Guess they already left."

Halt glared at his apprentice. "You mean to tell me that you dragged me through this godforsaken forest all on a wild goose chase?!" he growled, anger flaring in his eyes.

"Not a wild goose chase per se, but it was more of an adventure!" Will exclaimed enthusiastically.

Halt gave him a long look before pointing to the direction that they came from. "Back to the cabin, now!"

Will nodded hurriedly and retraced his steps back out.

As they broke through the trees Halt brushed off all the brambles and leaves that stuck to his clothing. Without a word, he strode purposefully to the cabin. Will grinned to himself as he scampered after his mentor.

Halt pushed open the door, and his jaw dropped. Glitter. Everywhere. Gilan and Horace popped up from behind the sofa and flung fistfuls of pink glitter at him. Halt tried very hard to control his anger. He went over to the sofa and gripped their shirt collars with an iron grip, pulling them out of their hiding spot and sprawling on the floor. Gilan and Horace were still laughing hysterically as they were dragged onto the floor.

Behind Halt, Will was doubled over, trying to catch his breath as he laughed. Halt turned to him.

"You think this is funny?!" he snarled. His face centimeters from Will's.

Will, through bursts of laughter said, "Your...face...priceless."

The older Ranger glared at the three pranksters menacingly. If looks could kill, Will, Horace and Gilan would be long gone. "

"All three of you will be cleaning this up; not to mention all the extra chores of running this cabin," Halt said, his voice dangerously quiet.

At this, the laughter slowly died down, all three of them looking at Halt in horror.

"B-but, Halt! You can't punish me! I'm a fully-fledged Ranger, which means that we're equal in rank," Gilan protested, his face full of panic.

"Tell that to someone who gives a flying fig about it!" Halt challenged, his face deep red in anger. "Now get cleaning. This cabin won't wash itself."

* * *

Gilan stood by the washing basin, cleaning pots and pans until they glistened, under Halt's watchful eye, of course. Horace and Will were sweeping up the remaining bits of glitter on the floor. Halt had brushed off most of the glitter that had been thrown on him, but small specks still remained in his hair and clothing.

Halt walked up to the basin where Gilan stood and casually brushed off a few specks of glitter from his shirt onto a newly washed pan.

With a smirk, Halt said, "You missed a spot."

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this short story :) Thanks for reading! Feedback much appreciated!**


End file.
